Dawn's Disastrous Hairdo Dilemma
by QuartzClaw
Summary: Dawn's having a bit of a dilemma. She's stuck with the worst hair day ever, and all of her friends are going to be over soon. Ash, who arrived early, claims he can help her out, but can he really? Or should she not risk it becoming worse and let the rest of her friends see her predicament?


**Hello, readers! QuartzClaw here!**

 ** _dawnxashlover_ asked me to do a fic on Ash and Dawn, and an idea popped up in my head, so I thought, why not? And when I got the time, I wrote it out, and voila! Here is the end result! I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

 **Dawn's Disastrous Hairdo Dilemma  
**

 ***Ding dong***

Ash waited patiently, humming to himself as he rang the doorbell and waited for the door to open. Today, Dawn's mother wasn't home, and so Dawn had invited everyone over for a small get-together, since they had the house to themselves and therefore wouldn't be disturbing her mother. Pikachu, who was currently perched on his shoulder, had made sure the teenage boy wouldn't be late by pestering him until he got ready and set out. Although, with the lack of cars on Dawn's house's driveway, it was evident he was a bit early.

The door opened a crack, and Dawn peeked out.

"Hi, Dawn!" Ash said brightly.

"Pi Pikaka!" Pikachu greeted as well.

"Oh, it's just you guys," said Dawn, looking visibly relieved. She glanced at the surrounding area to make sure no one else was there. "Okay... I guess you guys could come in."

She opened the door wider, and Ash entered with Pikachu. He was a bit puzzled at her behaviour, and became even more nonplussed when he saw that she was wearing a large hat with all her hair tucked in under it. Dawn usually had her hair open or styled, and why in the world was she wearing a sunhat indoors?

"Um, Dawn?" Ash said hesitantly. "Why are you wearing a hat?"

"Oh, this?" Dawn said, forcing her voice to sound cheery. "I-it's nothing! Oh, um, can you wait here a sec? I just need to go do something in my room! Bye!" With that, she darted up the stairs, leaving Ash even more confused behind her.

"Hey, are you all right?" Ash called after her.

"Yeah! No need to worry!" Dawn yelled back, right before there was a sound of a door closing.

"Well, that was... odd," said Ash, sitting down on one of the sofas.

"Pika pikachu Pikaka?" said Pikachu.

"You're saying we should go check on her?"

"Pika."

"Nah, she's probably fine."

"Pika pi?"

"Sure I'm sure! She did say there was no need to worry, right?" Ash's eyes widened. "Wait... When she says 'no need to worry', that's when I worry the most!"

He got up quickly and began running up the stairs, a startled Pikachu desperately clinging onto his shoulder so he wouldn't fall off. Once Ash reached Dawn's room, he wasted no time knocking.

"Dawn? Are you okay? Is there something wrong? Dawn!" Before Dawn could reply to his frantic questions, the door opened. Apparently, it hadn't been closed properly, so when Ash had knocked, it got pushed open.

Dawn, who was standing in front of her dresser and mirror, turned to where Ash was, and gasped, throwing her arms over her head in an attempt to hide her hair, as she was no longer wearing a hat.

"Ash!" she shrieked. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?!"

"I _did_ knock!" Ash insisted. "The door opened by itself!"

"B-but—! Ugh!" Dawn gave a defeated sigh and lowered her hands. "Well, no point in hiding it, now that you've seen it."

"Seen what?" Ash asked, befuddled.

"This!" Dawn gestured to her hair. Ash blinked, and then his eyes widened.

"Dawn, what happened to your hair?!"

Her hair was a mess. There were knots and tangles all over the place, and it looked like there were some hairpins and hairbands sticking out from the chaotic mop of blue. Frizzy and curly strands of hair poked out in every which way, and had Ash gotten over his shock and not been the caring friend he was, he would have burst out laughing. Dawn was evidently having the ultimate bad-hair day.

"Ohhh..." Dawn groaned, falling back onto her bed. Her Piplup, who was worriedly watching her from her pillow, hopped over to sympathetically pat her shoulder.

"Pip-lup."

"What happened?" Ash repeated, horrified. "That doesn't look like your average bed-head!"

"It's not," Dawn whined, sitting up. "I found this amazing hairstyle on the Internet, and I just _had_ to try it out. But I don't know what went wrong! I tried to fix it, but it ended up getting worse, and now, I can't even undo it! And everyone's coming over, and I just don't know what I'm supposed to do. I can't let them see me like this!"

"So that's why you were wearing a hat. I was thinking it was strange that you were."

Dawn glumly nodded. "What should I do, Ash? I don't want to go greet everyone with this mess on my head. It looks terrible!"

"It does look pretty bad..." Ash thought for a moment before punching the air with his fist. "Well! We'll just have to fix it!"

"How? And how are we going to do it before everyone gets here? They'll be coming any minute!"

"There's still some time. Just sit over here." Ash took Dawn's desk's chair and put it in front of the dresser and mirror. "I'll see what I can do. Maybe it'll be better for me to get rid of the tangles, since it's a lot harder for you since you can't see the back of your head."

Dawn hesitated, but then finally sighed and sat on the chair. "Well, it's not like I have a better option."

Ash positioned himself behind her, and Pikachu hopped off his shoulder.

"Pika..." said Pikachu doubtfully.

"Okay, now let's see. How in the world am I supposed to do this?" Ash mumbled to himself as he examined the blue tangles. When he saw Dawn's expression in the mirror's reflection, he quickly realized that he had made it sound as if he had no idea what he was doing. "Hey, I'll fix it," he assured his friend. "No need to worry, right?" Dawn smiled weakly but said nothing.

Ash got to work, trying to pull apart the many knots, getting many yelps from Dawn every time her hair was tugged, leading to Ash having to constantly apologize. It was tough work, and Ash had to spend a full five minutes trying to open up just one small tangled bunch. And then...

 ***Ding dong***

They froze in horror when the bell rang.

"Oh no," said Dawn, her eyes wide. "The others are here! What am I going to do?"

"You stay up here and don't move," Ash ordered. "I'll deal with them and be right back as soon as I can!"

Before she could say anything else, he gestured to Pikachu to follow him, and he and his Pokemon headed downstairs as fast as they could.

"Hey!" Ash greeted as he opened the door. He instantly came face-to-face with a bored-looking purple-haired teenager. "Hi, Paul!"

"Hn," Paul greeted in return. Ash nervously stood in the doorway for a while, and Paul stared back at him.

"Er, do you wanna come in?" Ash asked nervously.

"I wouldn't be standing here if I didn't."

"Oh... Okay, come in, then." Ash got out of the way, allowing Paul to step in. Paul looked around and quickly noted the lack of people.

"Great," he grumbled sarcastically. "I'm early..."

"Actually, you're not," said Ash, looking at the clock. "You're on time. The others are just late. I wonder why...?"

Paul sat down on one of the sofas. He was quiet for a while, with Ash just awkwardly standing there, before the purple-head finally spoke. "Am I at the right house? Did I accidentally come to yours instead? Because if I did—"

"No, you're at Dawn's house," Ash said confusedly. "Why would you think otherwise?"

"Because Dawn's not here, but you are."

"Oh. Well, I was early."

"You? Early? Now all I have to wait for at this point is for the world to stop turning."

"Um..."

"Where is Dawn anyways?"

"She's doing something important right now, but she'll be here in..." Ash trailed off and his eyes widened when he remembered he was supposed to be helping her out right now. Paul just blankly stared at his sudden change of expression.

"I'll go call her!" Ash said quickly, running up the stairs. "Pikachu, you keep Paul company!"

"Pika?!" But Ash was already gone.

Pikachu, not knowing what else to do, hopped onto the sofa opposite of Paul, and the two stared at each other quietly for a minute.

"Pi... Pika," said Pikachu finally.

"So. What's up?"

* * *

"Where were you?" Dawn demanded when Ash burst into her room, shutting the door behind him. "Who was it?"

"It was just Paul," Ash answered. "I left Pikachu with him to keep him company, and Paul probably won't come looking for us, so it should be fine."

"What about the others?"

Ash shook his head. "It was just Paul. The others are probably late."

"Okay, but do you think you can fix my hair before they show up?"

"I can try..."

Ash went back to his task before the bell rang. Again.

"Who can it be this time?" Dawn said, panicking. "You're going to have to go check again."

"No need to worry!" said Ash, using her catchphrase to try to calm her. "Paul can let them in, and then they would probably sit together, and, I don't know, talk or something and wait for us. I can stick around here and finish up fixing your hair."

But the bell rang again. And then again. It wasn't long before they realized that Paul had absolutely no interest in answering the door. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Ash was forced to hurry downstairs to check for himself.

"...Pikapi pikachu, pi pika pikachu," Pikachu was saying.

"Yeah. He can be a pretty big idiot sometimes," Paul responded to what the Pokemon had just said.

"Pi," Pikachu agreed. "Pika pika pikachu, pi Pikapi—"

"Hey," Ash interrupted, the door forgotten. "Are you guys talking about me?"

"Pika pikachu pika pika," Pikachu continued, ignoring him. "Chu, pika, Pikapi pika chu chu."

"Huh? WAIT! Pikachu, don't tell Paul _that_ story!"

"Pika pika pi? Pikachu pika! Pikachu! Pikapi _pikachu pika_!"

"Seriously, Ash?" Paul turned exasperatedly to the black-haired boy when Pikachu was done. "Is what Pikachu saying true? You _actually_ did that?"

Ash glared at Pikachu, who gave him a smug look. This was clearly revenge for Ash leaving him like that. But before Ash could reply, the doorbell rang once more, and he had to go quickly answer it.

"Took you long enough," Misty grumbled as she entered.

"Sorry, Mist." Ash rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I thought Paul was going to open the door."

Misty shrugged her shoulders. "No, it's fine. Hey, where's Dawn?"

"Oh, um, she needed to do something so she's upstairs right now. She'll be coming down soon."

"Still upstairs? She's the one who invited us." To Ash's horror, she began going up the stairs, probably heading for Dawn's room. Ash rushed to block her path, causing Misty to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Ehehe, um... she said she'd rather not be disturbed," Ash said quickly.

"Fine, then." Misty sat on the sofa beside Pikachu. As Ash began going back upstairs, she called out to him. "Hey, weren't you saying she doesn't want to be disturbed? Why are you going up, then?"

"Oh, um, she needed help with something."

"I can help." Misty began to get up.

"NO! I-I mean..." he stuttered when Misty began looking suspicious. "I-it's a... a surprise! Yeah, it's a surprise! Can't let you see it right now, can we?" He tugged on the collar of his shirt nervously.

"Then why do _you_ get to know about it?"

"I... I found out about it by accident, and she needed help, so... you know..." Ash trailed off. When Misty opened her mouth to say something else, he said, "Well, gotta go! See you in a minute or two!" and darted up the stairs into Dawn's room. Dawn raised an eyebrow questioningly when he did.

"Misty," Ash explained. "She was getting suspicious, but I don't think she'll disturb us... maybe..."

"Oh, just hurry up, Ash," Dawn urged anxiously. "They'll all be here soon, and if I don't come downstairs, they'll wonder where I am and come looking for me and—"

"Don't worry, I'll get this done. You'll see!"

They froze when the ringing of the doorbell could be heard yet again. They could hear the door opening, and Misty greeting whoever it was. They could tell from the voices that Drew had arrived.

"At least it wasn't May and Leaf," Dawn said, trying to stay positive. "They'd try to come upstairs to find me."

"We should lock the door just in case," Ash suggested nervously as he went to do just that.

"Wait, are you saying the door wasn't locked this whole time? What if someone had come upstairs?!"

"But it hadn't been locked when I came!"

"Yes it had! I just hadn't closed the door properly!"

"But—"

"Pip-lup pip-lup!" Piplup cried out, reminding them of their current situation.

"Oh, right!" Ash went to his friend's hair. "Let's see, now..."

"HEY, DAWN? WHERE ARE YOU?" a voice bellowed out as footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs. _May's_ voice. They must have missed the sound of the doorbell.

"Um, I'll be right there!" Dawn yelled back. "Just need to do something!"

"Hey, I can help—" It sounded as if May was getting closer to the door.

"NO! I mean, it's a surprise!" Dawn blurted out without thinking.

"Huh? Oh, I love surprises! Okay, I'll be downstairs, then. Can't wait!" Thankfully, May could be heard going back down.

"Wait, did I just say it's a surprise?" Dawn said slowly, turning to Ash.

"You know, I think I said the same thing to Misty," Ash admitted.

Dawn's eyes widened in horror. "But then that means... we ARE going to have to come up with a surprise! Now everyone would probably be expecting it!"

"Let's just worry about your hair right now," Ash said, not wanting to complicate things. "We can figure that out later."

"But we don't have much time!"

"Then think while I do your hair or something!"

Ash's fingers worked frantically while he tried to undo the knots and tangles. Dawn's most common thing to say when Ash accidentally pulled too hard was, "OW!"

Finally, Ash's fingers left Dawn's hair, and for a second, she became hopeful. "Are you done?" she asked.

"Well, no." Her face fell. "There is this huge knot, and I just can't get it to open up! Once I'm done this, it'll be all okay, but I just can't seem to..."

"Try! Just try!" Dawn urged. This was a crisis here! If they couldn't get her hair problem solved, she was doomed!

Ash tried again, and for a while, Dawn did her best to endure the tugging and pulling while holding back her shouts of pain, just to make Ash's job easier. But he stopped again, and shook his head.

"It's no use," he said. "There is no way I can untangle it."

Silence. Neither said anything, not even contemplating what they could do. Hope was lost, and it just all seemed impossible. There was no way...

 ***Ding dong***

The final two guests had arrived. They could hear Gary and Leaf bickering as they walked into the house. From the sound of it, Gary had offered to drive his green-eyed friend, but then, despite her protests, had insisted on taking a 'shortcut'. And that was why they were late.

They could be heard arguing, then greeting everyone, then asking where Dawn was.

"It's no use," Dawn said suddenly, hanging her head. "I can't... I'll just have to go downstairs looking like this."

"You could wear a hat," Ash suggested uncertainly.

"No. No I can't," Dawn replied. "It didn't matter much with you because you normally don't ask about that kind of stuff. Well, you do, but you aren't pushy about it. I guess that's why I don't mind as much when asking you for help, because you do your best to be supportive and help your friends. But the others are going to find it downright hilarious. Even if they do end up helping me, they'll remember it for as long as they live. They'll make sure it comes back to haunt me!"

"O-oh," said Ash, not knowing what else to say. And then, he took a deep breath, and said, "We'll just have to cut it."

"WHAT?! Are you even hearing yourself?" Dawn yelled. "Cut my hair?!"

"Cut the knot out," Ash clarified. "If we do it properly, it would just look like a haircut, and not like anything went wrong."

"But who's gonna cut it, huh? I don't trust anyone but actual professional hairstylists for this kind of thing. I know I can't cut it, since it's at the back of my head, so it's hard to see. So who is going to do it for me, huh?"

"I can do it—"

"You? You cut my hair? I'm sorry, Ash, but... I can't really let you do that. Just... no."

"Why not?"

"You using a pair of scissors to give me a haircut? Not a chance! I'm sorry, Ash, but... I don't really feel comfortable with that idea."

"I'll be really careful!"

"You aren't exactly known to be."

"But I _can_ be! I'll prove it!"

"I don't really want to take that risk..."

"Dawn," Ash said, gently gripping her upper arms, looking into her eyes. "Trust me. I know what I'm doing. Give me a chance."

"B-but—!" Dawn didn't have much choice.

"Come on, Dawn, I promise. I won't let you down."

Finally, Dawn bit her lip and nervously nodded. She got up, picked up a pair of scissors from her desk and handed them to Ash before quietly sitting back down, her eyes shut.

"And I'll need a brush, a comb, some hairpins, and... all set!" Ash said, laying out said items on Dawn's dresser within reach.

"Piplup pip piplup pip, piplup piplup pip pip!" Piplup said, glaring at Ash. _If you end up doing ANYTHING that upsets Dawn, I will make sure to haunt you for the rest of your life!_

"Okay okay, I hear ya!" Ash said, laughing nervously. To himself, he mumbled, "Way to put the pressure on." Carefully, he picked up the comb in one hand, the scissors in the other, and got to work.

Dawn kept her eyes screwed shut the whole time. She could feel her hair being snipped, and every time it hit the floor, the inaudible landing sounded like a gunshot in Dawn's ears. Her hair, her beautiful hair was going to be destroyed by her friend's hands. She just knew it! Why in the world had she allowed him to do this? What had made her agree?

When Ash paused for a moment, and Dawn became afraid something had gone wrong. "Ash?" she said tentatively.

"Workin' on it," Ash said, picking up her hairbrush.

Dawn felt her hair being stroked with her brush, and she let out a breath of relief when she realized most of her hair was still there. But to her confusion, Ash's suddenly began—there was no doubt about it— _braiding_ her hair.

"Um, Ash?" Dawn spoke up. "What are you...?"

"Just wait!" he said enthusiastically. "I have a great idea!"

"But—"

"Just trust me! It won't take too long!"

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and Leaf's voice entered the room (although the girl herself didn't, since the door was locked).

"Hey, Dawn?" Leaf called. "Where in the world are you? We're all here, yah know!"

"Coming! Wait a few more minutes!" Dawn called back, panicking slightly. "How much longer?" she hissed to Ash under her breath.

"Just five minutes. Hold on," he whispered back.

"Dawn, are you okay?" Leaf asked through the door. "Everyone's asking where you are."

"Of course! No need to worry!"

"When you say 'no need to worry', that's when I worry the most."

"I'm fine, Leaf, really! Just wait for me downstairs!"

"All right then..." Leaf could be heard going back down the stairs.

"Okay, why is it that they're only asking where you are," Ash said irritatedly. "No one's asking if _I'm_ all right!"

"Just finish up already," Dawn said tiredly. "Whatever it is you're doing."

"Actually, I'm done."

"Huh?" Dawn finally got the courage to open her eyes. She hesitantly peered into the mirror, expecting to see something like a Raticate nest atop her head.

But she didn't.

She blinked. She had to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She even pinched herself a little, just to be sure. But there it was. Even Piplup seemed speechless.

There, on her head, was the absolute most gorgeous hairstyle she had ever seen in her life. It was beautiful, with the elegance and the braids, and the hairpins holding her hair in just the right way. It looked like the kind of hairstyle a princess would have professionally done.

"Tada!" Ash said childishly, a huge goofy grin on his face. "What d'ya think? Do you like it, or what?"

"Piplup, am I imagining things?" Dawn quietly asked her Pokemon.

"Pip...lup..." Piplup replied, trying to find the words.

"How did you do it?" she breathed, turning to Ash.

"Well, I didn't take those hairstyling classes for nothing!" he bragged, puffing up his chest.

Dawn blinked, trying to comprehend his words. "Wait, you took hairstyling classes? _You_ did? When?! Why?!"

"Oh, a while back," Ash answered, shrugging. "You see, when I was little, my mom would always cut my hair instead of going to the barber to save money. But I always thought she was the most amazing hairstylist ever! She always made my hair exactly how I wanted it! So I decided to return the favour, since she has to cut her own hair, but never could do it in a fancy way or anything."

"So you took those classes?"

"Well, ehehe," Ash laughed sheepishly. "At first, when I was about eight, I kinda attempted to do her hair and it ended up being a fail. Turns out it's not as easy as it looks. Mom told me she wasn't upset or mad, but I still felt terrible because she had to wear a hat until she had her hair fixed by an actual barber. Ever since then, I saved up my money to get the classes, and once I went to those, I got to return the favour for real. So yeah."

Dawn stared. Ash—Ash of all people!—had taken professional hairstyling lessons. Ash of all people was the reason her hair was looking at its maximum. The thought itself was unbelievable, but yet the evidence was right there.

"So, should we go downstairs, or...?" Ash asked hesitantly.

"Thank you," Dawn said, her face beaming. "Thank you so much! Wow, Ash, you should just ditch the Pokemon Master dream and become a famous hairstylist instead!"

"Yeah, well." Ash suddenly went to being more modest. He looked at the floor, which was littered with cut strands of Dawn's hair. "Sorry about that. Guess you're gonna have to clean up this mess."

"Don't worry about it!" She brushed off the bits of hair clinging to Ash's shirt. "I'll clean it up later. Come on, the others are waiting!"

* * *

"Where is Dawn? We've been waiting for at least an hour!" Misty complained tiredly.

"Forty-eight minutes, actually," Paul interjected absentmindedly, more focused on whatever deep philosophical discussion he was having with Pikachu.

"She said she would be down in a few minutes," Leaf said. "Though I kept getting the feeling something was wrong..."

"Why didn't you check on her?" May demanded.

"The door was locked!"

"Isn't this fun?" Gary said sarcastically. "We were all invited here by Dawn, but she's not here herself! Did she forget to give herself an invitation or something?"

"Hey, where's Ash, though?" Drew wondered. "Shouldn't he be here as well? Or is he just late again?"

"Oh no, he's here," said Misty. "See? Pikachu's here too. Apparently, whatever surprise Dawn has planned, Ash's in on it."

"Oh, I think I know why it's taking so long," Gary said. "Whatever thing she had planned, Ash ruined it, and now he's trying to help her fix it."

"Sounds logical," said Drew in agreement.

"What?!" May yelled furiously. "If Ash did anything to the surprise, I will be sure to—!"

"Hey guys!" a voice suddenly chirped. "Sorry I'm late!"

"About time—" They all froze as Dawn came down the stairs.

Dawn giggled like a little girl as she came into the sitting room. "Well? What do you guys think?" she said, twirling around to showoff her hairstyle.

"Wow, Dawn," Leaf breathed.

"It's... it's... ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! HOW DID YOU DO IT? YOU SHOULD BECOME AN ACTUAL HAIRSTYLIST!" May burst out, rambling on and on about its beauteousness.

"It wasn't me! Guess who it was! Guess! Guess who did my hair!" Dawn said excitedly. The others stared.

"Um, I don't know," Drew said confusedly. "Who?"

"ASH, that's who! Ash Ketchum! The one standing right behind me right now!" She wildly pointed at Ash who had followed her downstairs. He laughed nervously.

There was a silence for a moment, before Gary spoke up.

"So this is the surprise? Ash is giving up on his dream of becoming a trainer to style hair instead?"

Ash's and Dawn's eyes widened, and the looked at each other. They had completely forgotten about the surprise! But at least this was a good coverup.

"Um, yeah, that's the surprise!" Dawn said. "I mean, no, Ash is not going to give up on being a trainer, but yeah, his amazing talent is the surprise. We surprised you, huh? You guys were surprised?"

"Well, yeah," said Misty. She raised her eyebrow. "Since when could Ash do anything like that? Is this some kind of prank?"

"I wouldn't put it past them," said Leaf. "Did someone else actually do Dawn's hair?"

"No, it was me!" Ash insisted.

"Prove it!" Leaf said, grinning. "Do mine next!"

"Oh course I will!"

"Can I have a try?" May asked.

"Sure! Of course!"

"I guess I'll need some proof as well," said Misty.

Ash hesitated. "Actually, Misty, your hair's kinda short, so I'm not completely sure if I'll be able to..."

" _What_?"

"Okay, okay! I'll give it a try for you too! Yeesh!"

"Wow, Ash, someone's suddenly popular," Gary commented, smirking.

"You should start a business," Drew added, looking amused.

"Um, guys?" Dawn spoke up. "We can't exactly have our hair done right now. Weren't we gonna hang out?"

While they discussed what they were going to do (other than Paul, who was having a conversation with Pikachu on the meaning of life), Dawn couldn't help but feel like the luckiest person alive to have Ash as a friend. Because if that hadn't been the cause, she had no idea how she could have gotten out of that mess!

* * *

 **And done! Haha, yeah, I gave Ash the almighty powers of hairstyling! I thought it would be a fun twist, since he's the one you least expect to be able to do these kinds of things!**

 **So what did you guys think? Please review (if you want) and thanks for reading!**

 **Bye bye! Have a great day, and smile all the way! :)  
**


End file.
